The Artists of Camp PencilPoint

Joe Foois an Illustrator and Teaching Artist from Michigan. While he is most commonly referred to as Foo, he is also the creator and director of Camp PencilPoint, a website designed to teach people how to draw through use of nonsense and tomfoolery. Foo was an instructor at The College For Creative Studies where he taught Basic Perspective to college level students. He is also the creator of Desmond’s Comic, a web comic that followed the adventures of a wolverine.

Here are some more fun facts about Foo:

• He loves pushing his line quality for all it is worth. Foo achieves this by using his medium of choice: a brush (3 round, not to thin and not too thick) with ink (Yasutomo Sumi Ink has been a fav).
• Other personal favorites include Zebra brush pens and Kuretake brush pens. These pens have just enough give in their nibs to help create some fun lines.
• Foo’s paper of choice comes fromFrench Paper. He likes working out of a midtone for most of his sketches.
• There are a many artistic influences in his life, the most notably are Chuck Jones, Charles Schultz, Jeff Smith and of course Walt Disney. Other sources of inspiration for Foo include Jim Henson, Fred Rogers and Ernie Coombs.
• There are a lot of things that Foo loves to draw, but his common go-to’s are llamas, elephants, dinosaurs, puppies and rhinoceroses. He also has been know to sketch a few Disney characters and Pokemon as well.
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit was the one movie that inspired Foo to become the artist that he is today.

Chef Miker is an illustrator currently living in Orlando, Florida. He is the artist of Apooka The World’s Most Adorable Zombie.

Here are some fun facts about Chef Miker:

• One of Chef Miker’s favorite artists is Virginia Lee Burton. Her children’s books inspired him to draw.
• His favorite medium is brush and ink on Bristol board, but Zebra brush pens are a close number two.
• What is his favorite thing to draw? Well, he loves to draw everything, it’s great to experiment.
• It’s too hard to pin down just one favorite movie, but some that Chef Miker likes very much are: Pinocchio, Fantasia, Mary Poppins, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Superman, Batman, Toy Story, Iron Giant, Spider-Man Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers Infinity War.

Joshua Buchananis a graphic designer by day, storyteller and comic artist by night. Josh’s current work includes his own comic book, “The Rocket” and “Scratch9 Cat of Nine Worlds.” There are additional books for all-ages in the works for future releases. Josh lives in Howell, Michigan with his wife and two daughters.

Here are some fun fact about Josh:

• He does not like playing favorites when it comes to picking a favorite artist, but he has been reading a lot of Ben Hatke recently. Ben pours artwork out at high quality, and at an incredible rate, ALL while taking care of his five kids and wife. It’s super boss.
• Josh loves his brushes and Sharpies. They throw down tons of ink, and have variants in line values.
• What is Josh’s favorite medium? As far as a showcase for artwork, he thinks animation and comics are both great. They both tell stories in an incredible and fun way.
• Josh’s favorite thing to draw is anything he has not drawn previously. He finds incredible satisfaction finding new ways to push himself and his style.
• Favorite movie? There are many, but he is puttingTarzanup top.

Emily Zelasko, or Our Lady of the Bagpipes,is a Metro Detroit artist who creates comics and illustrations. Many of her comics are stand-alone slightly fantastical stories that deal with peculiar adventure, a bit of reflection and hopefully growth. Such comics include “Old Man, Dog and the Ocean”, “Something Something Adam” and her newest series “Edme”. Emily is also the creator of “Man Bun” his business associates. She enjoys drawing them looking sharp and working hard (most of the time).

• Emily is not sure if she has one favorite artist but some artists she finds inspiring are Herge (creator of Tin Tin), Claude Monet, Van Goah, Albrecht Durer, and Warwick Johnson Cadwell.

• They are a source of inspiration because of their skill. They are something to aspire to become.

• She enjoys the loose colors in impressionism, the simple iconic shapes in Tin Tin and the loose, spooky and slightly violent work of Cadwell.

• These artists are also successful in communicating stories, ideas, and emotions with an image